A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOM). The PMOM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the twelve Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOY). Currently, Playmates of the Month are paid US$25,000 and Playmates of the Year receive an additional US$100,000 plus a car and a motorcycle. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine.

Playboy encourages potential Playmates to send photos with "girl next door" appeal for consideration; others may submit photos of Playmate candidates, and may be eligible for a finder's fee if their model is selected. In addition, "casting calls" are held regularly in major US cities to offer opportunities for women to test for Playboy. The Playboyphotographers and Hugh Hefner then select which models become Playmates. The Playmate of the Year is chosen personally by Hugh Hefner, taking into account an annual readers' poll.

According to Playboy, there is no such thing as a former Playmate because “Once a Playmate, always a Playmate”.[1]

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Marilyn Monroe, who was featured in the first issue, was the only one to appear as "Sweetheart of the Month". The first model called a Playmate of the Month was Margie Harrison, Miss January 1954, in the second issue of Playboy. Generally a woman may only appear once as a Playmate, but in the early years of the magazine, some models were featured multiple times. Marilyn Waltz (February 1954, April 1954, April 1955 — her first appearance was as Margaret Scott) and Janet Pilgrim (July 1955, December 1955, and October 1956) are tied for the most appearances. Margie Harrison (January 1954, June 1954) and Marguerite Empey (May 1955, February 1956) are the only other women to appear more than once as Playmates.

Under current law in most US jurisdictions, publishing nude pictures of a model younger than 18 would be a felony. However, in the early years of the magazine, laws regarding corruption of a minor were less well established. Several playmates — including Nancy Crawford (April 1959), Donna Michelle (December 1963), Linda Moon (October 1966), Patti Reynolds (September 1965) and Teddi Smith (July 1960) – posed when they were seventeen. Elizabeth Ann Roberts (January 1958) – whose pictorial was called "Schoolmate Playmate" – posed when she was sixteen. Hugh Hefner and Roberts' mother were arrested as a result, but the case was subsequently dismissed because Roberts' mother had signed a statement that her daughter was eighteen before the photo shoot.[2] In more recent years, Ursula Buchfellner posed for the German edition of Playboy when she was sixteen and subsequently posed for the American edition (October 1979) when she was eighteen. Gina Goldberg (May 1981), after emigrating from Finland, lied about her age and said she was 21 when she was really seventeen when she posed. Dutch Playmate twins Karin and Mirjam van Breeschooten appeared at age seventeen in their country's edition of Playboy in June 1988, at eighteen, they were Misses September 1989 in the US version. The youngest – i.e. last born – Playmate, as of December 2012 is Amanda Streich, born May 26, 1993.

First Playmate to fill out a Playmate Data Sheet (not included): Marianne Gaba (Miss September 1959)

First Playmate to become Playmate of the Year (1960): Ellen Stratton (Miss December 1959)

First Playmate to have died: Tonya Crews (Miss March 1961) died in an automobile accident on Aug 7, 1966.[5] (This again discounts Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962, but was billed in her Playboy appearance as "Sweetheart of the Month", not as a Playmate.)

First foreign-born PMOY: Christa Speck (Miss September 1961) was born August 1, 1942 in Danzig.

First video Playmate (1982): Lonny Chin was also the magazine centerfold in the January 1983 issue.

First mother and daughter to be Playmates: Carol Eden (Miss December 1960) and her daughter Simone Eden (Miss February 1989)

First Playmate to become a LGBT spokesmodel and advocate in the LGBT community: Stephanie Adams (Miss November 1992)

First Playmate with visible tattoo on centerfold: Jennifer LeRoy (Miss February 1993)

First Playmate with visible navel piercing on centerfold: Gillian Bonner (Miss April 1996)

First Playmate of the Month to be a Penthouse Pet of the Month in any edition (November 1985, German Edition) as well: Ursula Buchfellner (Miss October 1979, as well as the December 1977 for the German edition of Playboy)

First Playmate of the Month to be a Penthouse Pet of the Month in both the American editions (October 2000) as well: Linn Thomas (Miss May 1997)

In the early days of Playboy, there was no official prize for the most popular Playmate at the end of each year. Although February 1954 Playmate Marilyn Waltz gained much popularity, receiving more fan mail than any other Playmate that year, she was not crowned PMOY. Neither was December 1956 Playmate Lisa Winters who was named Playmate of the Year,[3] and although Joyce Nizzari, Miss December 1958, was named the "most popular" Playmate of 1958,[7] the PMOY competition was first officially won in 1960 by Miss December 1959, Ellen Stratton. The 2009 PMOY, Ida Ljungqvist, was the 50th PMOY and the second model of African descent to win the title, the first being Renee Tenison.

A PMOY makes her appearance the year following her first appearance as PMOM. This feature is usually published in the June issue, although sometimes it has been published in the May or July issue. Until 2003, each year's Playmate of the Year would routinely appear on the cover of her PMOY issue, in which her PMOY pictorial is featured. However, from 2003 to 2005, PMOYs did not appear on the covers of their PMOY issues, and 2007 PMOY Sara Jean Underwood did not either. Instead, celebrities appearing in celebrity pictorials in the PMOY issues appeared on the covers. The 2010 PMOY, Hope Dworaczyk, did appear on the cover, and was the first model to be the subject of a three-dimensionalPlayboy centerfold photograph.